Overstreet

Mr. and Mrs. Dean Jansen Everitt, Orlando, announce the engagement of their daughter, Christine Corley, to Russell Alan Overstreet, Orlando, son of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Overstreet, Venice. The wedding is April 9, 1988. She graduated from Boone High, Orlando, and Rollins College, Winter Park. He graduated from Kearsley High, Flint, Mich.

OCALA -- Marion County deputy sheriffs arrested three men Friday after they left a mobile home where a 21-year-old man was fatally shot on the front lawn, authorities said. Martin Esparza died at West Marion Community Hospital shortly after 4 p.m. Friday, authorities said. Quinton M.E. Thornton, 21, Marcus B. Overstreet, 30, and Corey Jenkins, 20, are being held without bail in the Marion County Jail, accused of first-degree murder and attempted robbery. Thornton also faces a charge of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Knapp, Orlando, announce the engagement of their daughter, Kelly Eileen to Melvin Michael Overstreet, Orlando, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Melvin M. Overstreet Jr., Orlando. The wedding is July 2. She graduated from Saint Johns High School, Gulfport, Miss. He graduated from Edgewater High School, Orlando.

KISSIMMEE---Frontier Florida artist Eldon Lux's pencil drawing of cattlemen Jennings Overstreet and Jim Hale on horseback as they ride through tall grass and palmetto with nothing around them except open land depicts a scene that is rapidly disappearing in Osceola County. But in December, as many as 500 riders and wagon drivers will gather at the Whaley Ranch in south Osceola County for a rare opportunity to drive cattle through wilderness that still looks a lot as it did four generations ago when the first Overstreets arrived.

Mr. and Mrs. Leslie M. Pence, announce the engagement of their daughter, Deborah Lynn Crosby, to Robert Clay Overstreet, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jennings L. Overstreet, Kissimmee. The wedding is Dec. 5. The bride-elect graduated from Osceola High School. Her fiance also graduated from Osceola High.

Yvonne S. Overstreet, Orlando, announce the engagement of their daughter, Alice Yvonne, Altamonte Springs, to Scott Jameson Forbes, Altamonte Springs, son of Kenneth Forbes, Lake City, and Mrs. Adam Reardon, Orlando. She is also the daughter of the late Earl Overstreet. The wedding is July 21. She graduated from A. Crawford Mosley High School, Panama City, and Florida State University, Tallahassee. He graduated from Bartow High School, Bartow, and attended University of South Florida, Tampa.

Tennessee starting defensive end Will Overstreet underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam on his left knee Monday, and Coach Phillip Fulmer said he will not play this weekend against Georgia. Overstreet, a senior and team captain, sprained the medial collateral ligament in his knee during the 26-18 win over LSU. Starting offensive guard Jason Respert was also hurt against LSU, incurring a high ankle sprain. He will not play against Georgia. Offensive tackle Reggie Coleman also sprained an ankle and is questionable.

Thirty attorneys have applied for the post of county attorney, but it appears that a choice won't be made before the June deadline to replace longtime attorney Murray Overstreet.Overstreet resigned last July, after criticism that the county had paid too much to buy land along Southport Road for the new landfill.Overstreet, who had served as the county attorney for 25 years, agreed to represent the county until a replacement could be hired, setting June as the deadline.Nevertheless, Overstreet has said that he will not leave the county without legal representation.

Give Darrington Overstreet credit. A disappointing senior season that saw the Deltona Wolves fall on hard times ended with a thrilling victory in the slam-dunk competition at the third annual DeLand High School Slammin' and Jammin' Competition last Friday.The dunking contest's warm-ups were well worth the $3 admission that benefitted DeLand athletics, but as player after player soared to improbable heights over the rim, it became apparent that there wasn't much separating these athletes.Nothing but imagination.

KISSIMMEE -- Jennings L. Overstreet, one of the patriarchs of cattle ranching in Osceola County, died Friday of cancer. He was 70. Overstreet spent a lifetime as a rancher. Instead of attending the University of Florida, as his father had, he learned the multi-generation family business of raising cattle at home, among the scrub and pasture of rural Osceola. "He was on a horse right up until the spring of this year," said JoAnn Overstreet, his wife of 51 years. "He was always so thankful he was able to do what he loved best.

Whether working the front desk at an FBI office or manning the phones at a branch of the American Red Cross, Lura Ellen Overstreet had a knack for helping people and getting things done. As an 18-year-old fresh out of high school, Overstreet began working as an administrative assistant for the FBI in New Orleans. One day, with all of the agents gone and Overstreet alone in the office, a man came in with a not-too-common confession. "She was sitting at the front desk, and a man came in and wanted to confess to a murder," said her daughter, Carol Overstreet Mears of Casselberry.

Joanne Overstreet lived most of her life as a cattleman's wife, a role normally played behind the scenes. But she stood out, with her effervescent personality, a talent for making friends and her ability to entertain on a moment's notice. All were skills she put to good use as the wife of the late Jennings Overstreet -- one of Osceola County's best-known cattle ranchers. Joanne Overstreet of Kissimmee died in her sleep early Friday, just four months after the death of her husband, a fourth-generation county resident.

DADE CITY -- When Clarence Lane was 12 years old, his uncle took him to a moonshine still for the first time. His friend Lonnie Tucker got his induction to bootlegging from his father. As the two young men matured, they kept up family traditions of moonshining in Florida, which years later would provide the inspiration for a new biographical novel, Water Under the Bridge, by Carol Overstreet of Kathleen. The story is about the ups and downs of life as a bootlegger in the Sunshine State.

When the Spanish claimed this land and brought horses, cattle and cowboy culture to Florida, they set the groundwork for the nation's entire beef industry. Last week, the state lost a great leader in the industry. Osceola County cattleman Jennings L. Overstreet died of cancer at age 70. Overstreet was the real deal. As a fourth-generation rancher, he was one of the pure links to the state's agricultural heritage. He was born Feb. 21, 1935, near Lake Tohopekaliga in Kissimmee. In 1852, his great-grandfather Henry Overstreet moved from Georgia to what is now Osceola County.

KISSIMMEE -- Jennings L. Overstreet, one of the patriarchs of cattle ranching in Osceola County, died Friday of cancer. He was 70. Overstreet spent a lifetime as a rancher. Instead of attending the University of Florida, as his father had, he learned the multi-generation family business of raising cattle at home, among the scrub and pasture of rural Osceola. "He was on a horse right up until the spring of this year," said JoAnn Overstreet, his wife of 51 years. "He was always so thankful he was able to do what he loved best.

PANAMA CITY -- A defendant who dropped his pants to "moon" a jury has been ruled mentally competent for retrial on charges he beat his girlfriend. Cornell Jackson, 31, tried to convince Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet that he was crazy and not faking mental illness at a hearing Tuesday, but to no avail. "I ain't in my right mind," Jackson insisted. He also told the judge: "I am going to the moon. The spirits are going to take me to the moon." Jackson, accused of attacking a former girlfriend on consecutive days in 2000, was convicted of armed burglary, aggravated battery and aggravated assault at two trials, although he missed the first one and part of the second.

Joe Edward Overstreet, a cattle rancher, horsebreeder and member of a prominent Osceola County pioneer family, died Sunday at his home. He was 68.Overstreet was the grandson of E.L.D. Overstreet, who was among the first settlers to begin cattle ranching in Osceola County in the mid-1800s.He was born March 8, 1918, near Campbell City, the son of Raleigh and Florrie Lawson Overstreet.A lifelong rancher, Overstreet was a member of the Osceola County and Florida cattlemen associations. He served for a time as a vice president of the Florida Hereford Association.

Edna Davis Overstreet, the matriarch of a prominent legal family in Osceola County, died Saturday in Kissimmee. She was 83.Mrs. Overstreet, 1655 Neptune Road, was the wife of Murray W. Overstreet Sr., a former Orange-Osceola state attorney and Orange-Osceola circuit judge who died in March 1975.The couple's son, Murray W. Jr., was Osceola County attorney for 27 years and returned to private practice in Kissimmee in 1985. Their grandson, John M., has worked since 1984 as Osceola County court administrator.

Local lore includes the story that, in the late 1800s, a Mr. Lord loaded sightseers into a carriage and gave swamp tours that included a regular stop at the tall cypress trees along Soldier Creek, which flows into Lake Jesup. He might have been the same Mills Lord who twice a week rowed across Lake Jesup to bring the mail to the post office at Solary's wharf. In late 2004, Karen Jacobs, curator at the Museum of Seminole County History, culled county records for everything she could find about the historic cypress called The Senator, including mentions of the swamp tours.

DADE CITY -- Inspiration can come from anywhere. Carol Overstreet of Polk County got her inspiration from her husband and his family. That inspiration turned into a book, Gator Creek -- stories about the history of the Overstreets, an important force in the cattle business and the development of pre-Disney Central Florida when Cracker cowboys roamed land that now is becoming neighborhoods for the ever-burgeoning population. The book breezes from the 1850s, when family patriarch Henry Overstreet and his family made their way into Florida by way of mule-drawn wagon, to a more recent period in Central Florida.